About Right to be Safe
Independent. Specialist. Globally experienced.
Who We Are
Right to be Safe is an international safeguarding consultancy operating within a rights based framework. We work with organisations across sectors where safeguarding risk is significant, complex, and where failure affects real people and institutional credibility.
We bring deep specialist knowledge grounded in decades of frontline practice across humanitarian, sport, not for profit and government organisations, including direct experience of managing cases across multiple jurisdictions, advising senior
leadership under pressure, and supporting organisations through serious safeguarding events.
Our work is grounded in international human rights standards and adapted carefully to the governance structures, cultural contexts, and risk environments of each organisation we work with.We bring the same quality of thinking and the same commitment to integrity to every engagement; whether we are advising a small community organisation or an international governing body.
MISSION
To support organisations across sectors to build and deliver safeguarding systems that are structurally sound, ethically grounded, and genuinely protective; placing the rights and dignity of people at the centre of governance, leadership, and practice
VISION
To shape a world where safeguarding is recognised as a defining standard of responsible leadership; embedded across sport, humanitarian action and international institutions as a driver of trust, human dignity and sustainable impact. We envision organisations where protecting people is not treated as a compliance obligation, but as a core value that informs culture, governance and decision-making. By grounding safeguarding in human rights principles and systemic accountability, we help build safer environments, stronger communities and institutions with the legitimacy and resilience to create lasting social good.
OUR VALUES
Integrity
We act with honesty and strong morals that are consistently upheld; we do not produce work that cannot be implemented or sustained in practice and we hold ourselves to the same standards we help organisations build.
Human-Centred
We place the rights, dignity, and lived experience of people at the centre of safeguarding systems; while upholding fairness and due process for all involved.
Care
We care deeply about our work and its impact on people, organisations and systems. Every project (regardless of scale) is delivered with the same level of care, attention and commitment.
Courage
We will have honest conversations, including ones that are difficult. Where assumptions or approaches are undermining safeguarding effectiveness, we will say so constructively, and with the evidence to support it.
Collaboration
We understand the complexity and sensitivity of our work so we collaborate and work alongside organisations and communities, to support meaningful impact through collective responsibility and shared learning.
Founder Profile
Claudia Villa
MBA · MSc · BA (Hons) · CMgr
Founder & Principal Consultant
Claudia Villa is an international safeguarding and human rights specialist with more than two decades of cross-sector experience. Working at the intersection of child and adult protection, human rights, and sport governance, she has supported international federations, humanitarian organisations, governments, and civil society bodies to build safeguarding systems that are ethical, credible, and genuinely protective.
Claudia has held senior positions including Head of Safeguarding at the Centre for Sport & Human Rights and Head of Safeguarding for Commonwealth Sport. She is a member of the Council of Europe International Experts on Safe Sport, the International Olympic Committee International Safe Sport Framework Core Group, the UNESCO Global Safe Sport Taskforce, and the International Safeguards for Children in Sport advisory group.
Alongside her sport work, she has led refugee and asylum seekers’ support services; supported children affected by abuse, trafficking and exploitation and worked in crisis-response settings with UK Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office and Red Cross. Her strategic leadership and collaboration with governments, law enforcement, health, and education sectors have influenced critical policies and procedures on child sexual abuse and exploitation, leaving a lasting legacy.
Get in contact
Should you wish to discuss a potential collaboration or require any further information, please feel free to contact us using the email below.